Fastening device

ABSTRACT

A fastening device ( 10 ) for a ratchet-type strap ( 12 ) includes a ratchet engaging member ( 30 ) for releasably engaging a ratchet-type strap ( 12 ) to prevent movement of the strap in a first direction, and a tightening member ( 35 ) for releasably engaging a ratchet-type strap ( 12 ) for moving the strap in a second direction. The engaging member ( 30 ) and tightening member ( 35 ) are resiliently biased with respect to each other by a single biasing member ( 46 ) which is configured to bias the engaging member ( 30 ) into a position to engage with the strap and to bias the tightening member ( 35 ) out of a position of engagement with the strap ( 12 ).

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a fastening device, particularlyenvisaged for use with sports footwear, such as skates or ski boots.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Many activities, for example, sports such as skating and skiing, requirespecialized footwear. In order that the participant can properly controltheir skates or skis, and also for safety reasons, the user must be ableto ensure that their footwear is correctly fitted. Such footwear usuallyincludes a fastening device that enables fine adjustment of the footweararound the user's foot, ankle and/or lower calf. Such fastening devicesmust be secure, adjustable in small increments, and easily tightenableand releasable.

Known types of fastening devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No.5,606,779, U.S. Pat. No. 5,779,259, U.S. Pat. No. 5,887,318, U.S. Pat.No. 5,909,850 and U.S. Pat. No. 7,086,122. These devices are all verycomplex requiring many different parts in order to carry out theirfunction.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,887,318, for example, discloses a device for clamping atoothed strap comprising two levers and a pawl with a number of linkagecomponents and springs to cause the desired relative movement betweenthe components.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention seeks to provide an improved fastening device.

According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided afastening device for a ratchet-type strap, including a ratchet-engagingmember for releasably engaging a ratchet-type strap to prevent movementof the strap in a first direction; and a tightening member forreleasably engaging a ratchet-type strap for moving the strap in asecond direction; wherein the engaging member and the tightening memberare resiliently biased with respect to each other by a single biasingmember which is configured both to bias the engaging member into aposition to engage with the strap and to bias the tightening member outof a position of engagement with the strap.

An advantage of a fastening device according to the preferred version ofthe invention is that the tightening member is biased out of engagementwith a strap and the engaging member is biased into engagement with thestrap by a single biasing member and so the number of components neededto manufacture the device is reduced and thereby manufacturing costs aresaved. Unlike in the prior art, where various springs bias differentcomponents into their appropriate positions, provision of only a singlebiasing member can reduce the manufacturing costs as fewer componentsare required, and can also improve the reliability of the device sincethe relative positioning of the components is not dependent on therelative biasing of multiple members with various tolerances, each ofwhich needs to be separately adjusted and configured.

In one version of the invention, a coupling member, preferably a bar,attached to one of the engaging member and the tightening member, isheld within a guide, preferably a slot, on the other of the engagingmember and the tightening member. The bar may provide a pivot pointabout which the member on which the guide is located is pivotable. Thetightening member and the engaging member may share a common pivot.These features can provide for a compact arrangement in which thetightening member and engaging member serve as supports for the pivotingand/or biasing of each other. Therefore, the need for multiple supports,pivot points and springs, as appear in the prior art, is reduced.

Preferably, the ratchet-engaging member is pivotable. Release of theratchet-engaging member may be achieved by moving the ratchet-engagingmember about a pivot.

The tightening member may be able to pivot with respect to theratchet-engaging member. A pivot may be provided on the ratchet-engagingmember. The tightening member may be mounted to the pivot by means of aslot through which the pivot extends, the pivot able to move within theslot, the slot being sized to allow movement of the pivot along a singleaxis. Preferably, the pivot is biased to an end of the slot. The biasingmay be provided by a spring, which may be a helical spring. The biasingmeans may be provided within a channel provided in the tighteningmember.

Preferably, the fastening device includes only a single spring.

According to a second aspect of the present invention there is providedan item of footwear including a fastening device as described above.

The item of footwear may be, for example, a skate, a ski boot or asnowboarding boot.

According to a third aspect of the invention, there is provided afastening device for a ratchet-type strap, including a ratchet-engagingmember for releasably engaging a ratchet-type strap to prevent movementof the strap in a first direction; and a tightening member forreleasably engaging the ratchet-type strap for moving the strap in asecond direction; wherein the tightening member is coupled to theengaging member by a pivot about which one of the tightening member andthe engaging member is pivotable with respect to the other.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

An exemplary version of the present invention is described below withreference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a version of a fastening device in aclosed configuration;

FIG. 2 is an enlargement of a portion of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an exploded view of the components of the fastening device ofFIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the components of the fasteningdevice of FIG. 1;

FIGS. 5 and 6 are perspective cross-sectional views of the fasteningdevice of FIG. 1;

FIGS. 7 and 8 are cross-sectional views of the fastening device of FIG.1;

FIG. 9 is a perspective cross-sectional view of the fastening device ofFIG. 1; and

FIGS. 10 and 11 are perspective cross-sectional views of the fasteningdevice of FIG. 1 in a tightening configuration.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED VERSIONS OF THE INVENTION

FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate a version of a fastening device in accordancewith the present invention. The device 10 is intended for use with aratchet-type strap 12, which includes a number of upwardly-extendingteeth 14. The teeth 14 are unidirectional, including a substantiallyperpendicular surface and a sloping surface. Such ratchet-type straps 12are well-known in the art.

The fastening device 10 is provided on a base 16 that cooperates withthe ratchet-type strap 12 as described in more detail below.

Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, the fastening device 10, in the preferredversion of the invention, includes only five parts. A ratchet-engagingmember 30 has a tooth-engaging portion 32 and, at its opposite end, arelease lever 34. The ratchet-engaging member 30 includes a transversebore 36 for receiving a pivot 38, the function of which is describedbelow. The transverse bore 36 is located between the tooth-engagingportion 32 and the release lever 34.

A second transverse bore 31 is provided in the ratchet-engaging member30. The second transverse bore 31 is located between the transverse bore36 for the pivot 38 and the release lever 34. The ratchet-engagingmember 30 also includes an aperture 33 through which a tightening member35 extends (seen in FIG. 3).

The tightening member 35 is fixed to the ratchet-engaging member 30 bymeans of a pivot 38 and a bar 37 that accordingly extend throughtransverse bores 36 and 31 in the ratchet-engaging member 30 and throughthe slots 48 and 49 (seen in FIG. 4) provided parallel to each other inthe tightening member 35.

The tightening member 35 is thus fixed to the ratchet-engaging member 30in a manner allowing movement between the tightening member 35 and theratchet-engaging member 30, for reasons described below. The tighteningmember 35 and the ratchet-engaging member 30 could be said to form an“X” shape, and are able to move with respect to one another by pivotingabout pivot 38 and the bar 37 located substantially at the cross-pointof the “X”.

Referring particularly to FIG. 4, the tightening member 35 includes atightening tooth 39 adjacent a flat surface 40 at one end of thetightening member 35. At the opposite end of the tightening member 35,there is provided a tightening lever 42.

The tightening member 35 includes a longitudinal bore 44, accommodatingthe slot 48. A helical spring 46 is located within the longitudinal bore44, for reasons described below. The longitudinal bore 44 co-extendswith the slot 48, the slot 48 extending only partially along thelongitudinal bore 44. The helical spring 46 located within thelongitudinal bore 44 engages the bar 37 that extends through the slot 48to bias the bar 37 toward the upper part of the slot 48.

The tightening member 35 includes a bend approximately at the positionof the slot 48 and the bar 37. The angle of the bend may beapproximately 100°. The tightening member 35 can thus be said to includetwo “arms”, a first arm forming the tightening lever 42 and a second armincluding the tightening tooth 39 at the end thereof. The second armincludes the longitudinal bore 44, which, in the illustrated version ofthe invention, can be accessed by an aperture in the first arm.

As can be seen in FIGS. 1 and 2, the pivot 38 is also used to attach thefastening device 10 to anchor members 20 provided on the base 16 in amoveable manner.

In use, the device 10 is mounted to the anchoring portions 20 such thata gap for the ratchet-type strap 12 is provided between theratchet-engaging member 30 and the base 16. In a closed configuration,the tooth-engaging portion 32 of the ratchet-engaging member 30 isengaged with the perpendicular surface of a tooth 14 of the ratchet-typestrap 12.

In this closed configuration the tooth-engaging portion 32 of theratchet-engaging member 30 is able to slide over the sloping surface ofthe teeth 14 of the ratchet-type strap 12 thereby increasing overlapbetween the base 16 and the ratchet-type strap 12 and providing atightening function. Relative movement between the ratchet-type strap 12and the device 10 is thus possible in a tightening direction (i.e. asshown in FIGS. 5 and 6, movement of the device 10 and base 16 to theleft). However, loosening of the fastening is prevented, becauserelative movement between the ratchet-type strap 12 and the device 10 inthe opposite direction is blocked by abutment of the tooth-engagingportion 32 of the ratchet-engaging member 30 with the perpendicularsurface of a tooth 14.

In this closed configuration, the tightening member 35 is in a relaxedposition. Its flat surface 40 is able to touch the peaks of the teeth14, but movement of the tightening member 35 across the teeth 14 is notin any way impeded. The tightening member 35 is maintained in thisposition by pressure of the helical spring 46 within its bore 44 againstthe bar 37. This ensures that the bar 37 is located towards the top ofthe slot 48.

In order to release the fastening, the user simply presses on therelease lever 34. This causes the ratchet-engaging member 30 to pivotabout the pivot 38, and cause the tooth-engaging portion 32 to be raisedso as to clear the teeth 14. As the user applies pressure to the lever34, the bar 37 is caused to move within the slot 48 of the tighteningmember 35 and to compress the helical spring 46. While in this openconfiguration, the ratchet-type strap 12 is able to move freely betweenthe device 10 and the base 16. However, this is only possible as long asthe user maintains pressure upon the release lever 34 since release ofthe release lever 34 causes the helical spring 46 to relax. This, inturn, pushes the bar 37 upwardly within the slot 48, causing pivoting ofthe ratchet-engaging member 30 about the pivot 38, and subsequentre-engagement of the tooth-engaging portion 32 with a perpendicular wallof a tooth 14.

As indicated above, it is important for such fastening devices 10 to beadjusted finely and tightly. Therefore a tightening mechanism ispreferably provided, as illustrated in FIGS. 10 and 11. The user canachieve a certain tightness simply by feeding the ratchet-type strap 12between the base 16 and the fastening device 10 and causing engagementof the tooth-engaging portion 32 of the ratchet-engaging member 30 witha perpendicular wall of a tooth 14. However, the user may requirefurther tightening, which they are unable to achieve in this way.

The tightening member 35 includes a tightening tooth 39. In order toprovide additional tightening, the user lifts the tightening lever 42,which causes the tightening member 35 to pivot about pivot 38 and thebar 37 so that the tightening tooth 39 is able to engage with theperpendicular wall of a tooth 14 of the ratchet-type strap 12. At thesame time, because the tooth-engaging portion 32 of the ratchet-engagingmember 30 is engaged with the perpendicular wall of the tooth 14, theupward movement of the tightening lever 42 causes the bar 37 to movedownwards within the slot 48 thereby compressing the helical spring 46.The engagement between the tightening tooth 39 and a perpendicular wallof a tooth 14 of the ratchet-type strap 12 causes movement between thedevice 10 and the ratchet-type strap 12 in a tightening direction (i.e.movement of the device 10 and base 16 towards the left shown in FIGS. 10and 11).

Release of the tightening lever 42 causes the tightening member 35 topivot back about the pivot 38 and the bar 37 (which is pushed back uptowards the top of the slots 49 and 48 by relaxation of the helicalstring 46). The tightening tooth 39 is raised out of engagement with theperpendicular wall of the tooth 14 of the ratchet-type strap 12 ready tore-engage with another tooth 14 of the ratchet-type strap 12 upon asecond lifting of the tightening lever 42. This process can be repeatedas many times as necessary by the user to achieve the appropriatetightness for the fastening.

It can seen that the spring 46 provides a pressure against the bar 37within the slot 48. This biases the device into a ratchet-engagingconfiguration (as illustrated, in particular, in FIGS. 5 and 6). Releaseand tightening of the device 10, by contrast, require the user to exertsome pressure on either the release lever 34 or the tightening lever 42respectively. This mechanism provides an extremely simple device forproviding a secure closure suitable for use on sport-type footwear. Inparticular, only a single biasing means (the helical spring 46 in theabove version) is required and the arrangement between theratchet-engaging member 30 and the tightening member 35 provides thatall of the necessary functionality can be achieved with as few componentparts as possible.

The skilled person will, of course, appreciate that variousmodifications may be made to the above-described version of theinvention and that various items of the proposed version may be variedor exchanged without departing from the scope of the invention. Theinvention therefore encompasses all versions that are literallydescribed by the claims below, and all equivalent versions.

1. A fastening device for a ratchet-type strap, including a. aratchet-engaging member for releasably engaging a ratchet-type strap toprevent movement of the strap in a first direction; and b. a tighteningmember for releasably engaging a ratchet-type strap for moving the strapin a second direction; wherein the engaging member and the tighteningmember are resiliently biased with respect to each other by a singlebiasing member which is configured both to bias the engaging member intoa position to engage with the strap and to bias the tightening memberout of a position of engagement with the strap.
 2. A fastening deviceaccording to claim 1: a. further including a coupling member: (1)provided on one of the engaging member and the tightening member, and(2) held within a guide on the other of the engaging member and thetightening member, wherein the coupling member is movable within theguide to control the relative position of the engaging member and thetightening member; b. wherein the single biasing member is configured tobias the coupling member with respect to the guide to: (1) bias theengaging member into a position to engage with the strap, and (2) biasthe tightening member out of engagement with the strap.
 3. A fasteningdevice according to claim 2, wherein the coupling member is a bar andthe guide is a slot through which the bar extends.
 4. A fastening deviceaccording to claim 3, wherein the single biasing member is configured tobias the bar against one end of the slot.
 5. A fastening deviceaccording to claim 3, wherein the other of the engaging member and thetightening member is pivotable about the bar.
 6. A fastening deviceaccording to claim 3, wherein the slot is sized to allow movement of thebar along a single axis.
 7. A fastening device according to claim 2wherein: a. the coupling member is provided on the engaging member andthe guide for the coupling member is on the tightening member, and b.the common pivot is provided on the engaging member and the guide forthe common pivot is on the tightening member.
 8. A fastening deviceaccording to claim 7, wherein the biasing member is provided in achannel in the tightening member.
 9. A fastening device according toclaim 1, wherein the tightening member and the engaging member share acommon pivot about which the tightening member and the engaging memberare pivotable with respect to each other.
 10. A fastening deviceaccording to claim 9, wherein: a. the common pivot is provided on one ofthe engaging member and the tightening member, and b. the common pivotis movable within a guide on the other of the tightening member andengaging member.
 11. A fastening device according to claim 10, whereinthe guide for the coupling member and the guide for the common pivot aresubstantially parallel slots.
 12. A fastening device according to claim1, wherein the biasing member is provided by a helical spring.
 13. Afastening device according to claim 1, further including a ratchet-typestrap.
 14. A fastening device according to claim 1, further including anitem of footwear to which the fastening device is affixed.
 15. Afastening device including: a. an elongated ratchet-type strap having aseries of teeth arrayed along the strap, the teeth having sloped sidesseparated by perpendicular sides, wherein: (1) each tooth's sloped sideis angled obliquely to the length of the strap, and (2) each tooth'sperpendicular side is angled at less than approximately 90 degrees withrespect to its sloped side; b. a ratchet-engaging member having atooth-engaging portion configured to: (1) move across the sloped sidesof the teeth in a first direction without obstruction by theperpendicular sides of the teeth, and (2) move across the sloped sidesof the teeth in a second direction opposite the first direction toencounter obstruction by the perpendicular sides of the teeth, theratchet-engaging member being biased toward contact with the slopedsides of the teeth; c. a tightening member pivotally situated withrespect to the ratchet-engaging member, the tightening member having atightening edge configured to bear against a tooth's perpendicular side,and thereby urge the strap in the second direction, when the tighteningedge of the tightening member is pivoted toward the tooth-engagingportion of the ratchet-engaging member.
 16. The fastening device ofclaim 15 further including: a. a base along which the strap rides, b. apivot spaced from the base, wherein the ratchet-engaging member andtightening member rotate about the pivot with respect to the base; c. abiasing member exerting a biasing force between the ratchet-engagingmember and the tightening member, the biasing force: (1) being alignedalong an axis spaced from the pivot; (2) biasing the tooth-engagingportion of the ratchet-engaging member toward contact with the slopedsides of the teeth, and (3) biasing the tightening edge of thetightening member away from the teeth.
 17. The fastening device of claim16 wherein: a. the biasing member extends between the tightening memberand a bar extending from the ratchet-engaging member, and b. the bar ismovably situated within a first slot in the tightening member.
 18. Thefastening device of claim 17 wherein the tightening member includes asecond slot therein in which the pivot is movably situated.
 19. Thefastening device of claim 15: a. wherein the tightening member includeselongated first and second slots therein, the lengths of the slots beingaligned at least substantially parallel; b. further including: (1) abase along which the strap rides, (2) a pivot spaced from the base,wherein: (a) the ratchet-engaging member rotates about the pivot withrespect to the base, and (b) the pivot is movable within the second slotof the tightening member; (3) a bar: (a) spaced from the pivot, and (b)extending from the ratchet-engaging member into the first slot of thetightening member; (4) a biasing member biasing the bar within the firstslot to: (a) urge the tooth-engaging portion of the ratchet-engagingmember toward contact with the sloped sides of the teeth, and (b) urgethe tightening edge of the tightening member away from the teeth.
 20. Afastening device including: a. an elongated ratchet-type strap having aseries of teeth arrayed along the strap, the teeth having sloped sidesseparated by perpendicular sides, wherein: (1) each tooth's sloped sideis angled obliquely to the length of the strap, and (2) each tooth'sperpendicular side is angled at less than approximately 90 degrees withrespect to its sloped side; b. a base along which the strap rides, c. aratchet-engaging member: (1) having a tooth-engaging portion configuredto: (a) move across the sloped sides of the teeth in a first directionwithout obstruction by the perpendicular sides of the teeth, and (b)move across the sloped sides of the teeth in a second direction oppositethe first direction to encounter obstruction by the perpendicular sidesof the teeth, (2) having a bar extending therefrom, and (3) beingpivotally linked with respect to the base at a pivot: (a) spaced fromthe base, and (b) situated between the bar and the tooth-engagingportion; d. a tightening member: (1) being rotatably situated about thepivot; (2) having an elongated first slot wherein the bar is movablysituated; (3) having a tightening edge: (a) situated closer to the firstslot than the pivot, and (b) configured to bear against a tooth'sperpendicular side, and thereby urge the strap in the second direction,when the tightening edge of the tightening member is rotated about thepivot toward the tooth-engaging portion of the ratchet-engaging member.